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Topic: Salamander seams - a tutorial (Read 14018 times)

So, a number of people have asked in my "it's not that easy being green" thread about how I achieved my results. I did say that I would do a tutorial a while back, but got really busy with my other project. Sorry. But I am a man of my word, so here goes.

Please note: I have seen much discussion, both here and on other forums lately on the subject of smoothing seams in foam; many have listed different ways of going about it and which stage is most important. understand, I'm not saying any particular way is right or wrong, I'm just sharing the way I've gone about it.I hope it helps.

Ok, so first off, I'm showing examples with the backpack exhaust ball. this is the piece that most of the time is short-cut and traded out for a round stryofoam ball.I'm using this piece for the tutorial just to show what results can be achieved with this method.

So, first off we start with a rough cut and glued foam piece.Nothing pretty. I cut all my pieces with a old pair of scissors. I'm not worried about perfect edges, as this is not the stage where the magic happens. ( You will notice that I pinch the glue before it dries, making removal easier.)

Then I break out the "mouse sander" with and very course grit (50) and rough sand all the seams and edges. This is also the point where you can begin to alter any corners/edges/ shapes that need altering. Here the seams begin to hide into the form.

Ok. Now that we have really smooth seams, we move on the sealing the foam. I use plastidip for this. Use as many layers as you can (several) as you'll watch each hide those smooth seams more and more.

Then comes the painting stage. I used krylon fusions and rustoleum outdoors paints, but the plastidip helps most any paint stick. Again, use several layers of paint as they help hide any imperfections.